In vitro and in vivo efficacy of afatinib as a single agent or in combination with gemcitabine for the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Figures & data

Figure 1 Inhibitory effect of afatinib on growth of NPC cell lines.

Notes: Cancer cell proliferation was calculated as a percentage of growth of the control cells. Each point represents the mean of triplicate values ± standard deviation.
Abbreviations: CNE, HNE, SUNE: three human NPC cell lines; NPC, nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Figure 2 Afatinib induced cell cycle arrest at G1 phase in HNE-1 cell line.

Notes: (A) Cell cycles were assessed by flow cytometry and one representative experiment is shown. (B) Statistical results are shown in the graph. Values are presented as mean of triplicate ± SD. *Represents P<0.05, **represents P<0.01.
Abbreviations: CON, control; H, percentage of sub-G1 phase; HNE-1, human NPC cell line; NPC, nasopharyngeal carcinoma; SD, standard deviation.

Figure 3 Effect of afatinib on levels of phosphorylated forms of EGFR, AKT, and ERK in the HNE-1 cell line.

Notes: Some cells were incubated with 10 ng/mL EGF for 30 minutes. Afatinib (5 μM) was administered as described in the “Materials and methods” section.
Abbreviations: EGF, epidermal growth factor; EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor; ERK, extracellular regulated protein kinases; FCS, fetal calf serum; GADPH, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; HNE-1, human NPC cell line; NPC, nasopharyngeal carcinoma; p, phosphorylated.

Figure 4 Effect of afatinib, gemcitabine, or combination on the growth of HNE-1 xenografts.

Notes: (A) Tumor volume of HNE-1 xenografts. Mean tumor volume is shown. (B) Body weight of HNE-1 xenografts. Mean body weight is shown. Data points represent the mean value from six to nine mice; Bars represent the standard deviation. *P<0.05 versus control.
Abbreviations: HNE-1, human NPC cell line; NPC, nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Figure S1 The relative quantity of phosphorylated EGFR, AKT, and ERK in HNE-1 cell line.

Notes: (A) Statistical graph of the relative quantity. (B) The gray values and the relative values.
Abbreviations: EGF, epidermal growth factor; ERK, extracellular regulated protein kinase; FCS, fetal calf serum; GADPH, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; HNE-1, human NPC cell line; pEGFR, phosphorylated epidermal growth factor receptor; p, phosphorylated.